MIPTV: Keshet DCP Bringing ‘Boom!’ To U.S.; Game Show Debuts With Explosive Ratings In Israel

It looks like Keshet International‘s new ticking time bomb game show Boom! is taking a page straight out of the Rising Star songbook. Just ahead of next week’s Mip-TV market, Boom! debuted last night on Keshet’s Channel 2 in Israel, scoring record ratings. At the same time, Keshet DCP, the joint venture between KI and DC Media, the parent company of dick clark prods, says it’s bringing the format to the U.S. It will be the first co-development deal between KI and DC Media under the Keshet DCP banner since it was established in October 2013. In November last year, ABC gave a 10-episode order to Rising Star which was being shopped by Keshet DCP. That interactive format went on to sell in over 25 territories and will debut in the U.S. on June 22.

With buyers all on the hunt for primetime formats that rise above the crowd — and which ideally have been tested elsewhere — Boom! could follow in Rising Star‘s footsteps. That singing competition debuted to record ratings in Israel shortly before last October’s Mipcom market, allowing KI to go to Cannes boasting a big local hit. Its out-of-the-box selling point was its interactive aspect. Boom!, meanwhile, “fuses the drama, intensity and thrill of a blockbuster action movie with the high octane fun of a video game.” Its debut on Israel’s Channel 2 in the 9 PM slot last night scored a 41.2% share and a 26.7% household rating, the highest ever for a game show launch, Keshet says. Other milestones include Boom! being the most viewed game show ever in Israel and having the highest audience share ever for a game show airing on a week night.

In Boom!, a squad of four players are given the challenge of defusing eight (replica) bombs by answering trivia questions correctly within a strict time limit. A nominated player must defuse one bomb per question by cutting through colored wires which represent multiple choice answers. If the player answers correctly, the prize money remains intact and the squad moves to the next bomb. If they cut the wrong wire, or run out of time, the bomb will explode strewing material across the studio and visibly shaking the set. The team loses one player per exploded bomb, and 25% of the potential prize money. Keshet International CEO Alon Shtruzman, who has assured me the bombs are not dangerous, calls the show “a game changer for the genre.” International buyers will discover the program at Mip next week and Shtruzman says there are already a few deals in the pipeline.

Boom seems like something you might on the Nickalodeon network expect if you miss a question you would wind up getting slimed on.

Calvin Boomgard • on Apr 4, 2014 8:12 am

Watch your back Endemol. DCP is on the move!

Rod • on Apr 4, 2014 8:12 am

For a country like Israel, defusing imaginary bombs in a game show setting seems more than a little unsettling and highly inappropriate. Why not just dress contestants up as terrorists, too?

Rod • on Apr 4, 2014 8:12 am

I can’t imagine this format being embraced in US markets without some major retooling. The bomb defusing concept would have to go. This game show, taken in the context of the world in which we now live, seems more like a satirical news story in The Onion.